Macedonia to Ban Gay Marriage in Constitution

Macedonia's parliament has agreed to consider proposed constitutional amendments to effectively ban gay marriage and impose limits on public debt.

Lawmakers agreed Wednesday to begin the amendment process proposed by the governing conservatives, who with their political allies already have the two-thirds majority of seats needed to approve the changes after winning a landslide election victory in April.

The amendments would define marriage exclusively as a heterosexual union, limit the national debt to 60 percent of gross domestic product and limit the country's annual budget deficit to 3 percent.

A spokesman for the conservative VMRO-DPMNE party in parliament said the amendment was aimed at "protecting traditional, family and religious values of marriage."

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